Earlier this summer, I was thrilled to be one of the first to welcome Lansdowne Park back to Ottawa when I took in the first CFL football game there in many years.

The stadium is a masterpiece; something all Ottawa residents, regardless of whether or not they like football, should be proud of. Since that game, the new urban park has opened, and soon the rest of the development will welcome its first guests, turning what was once a sea of concrete into a lively hub of activity. The worst-case scenarios of traffic chaos and neighbourhood suffering have proven to be unfounded, and the few small hiccups that have cropped up, however overblown, have been addressed.

Things were not always this good.

A little over four years ago, I played a small part in the contentious debate surrounding the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park. Why rebuilding a stadium on the site of a preexisting stadium (that had been there for nearly a century) was so contentious was something I struggled with. Words like heritage and park were thrown around without a clear understanding of what they actually meant. Was a century of sports and entertainment history at the site not heritage-worthy? Was a giant parking lot really a park? But the biggest issue, as I saw it, was the battle between local interests and citywide benefit. Was turning a central meeting place for all of Ottawa for over a century into a local park really the best use of such an important civic space?

As a small city that is quickly growing into a much larger one, Ottawa has the difficult task of finding the right balance between too small and too big. As a city, Ottawa is only as great as the sum of its various parts. Without The Glebe, there would be no Kanata, but just as surely, Riverside South makes Westboro what it is today. Cities aren’t just houses and businesses, they require infrastructure, the linkages that add value to the greater whole. Airports and hospitals, stadiums and theatres, these things benefit the entire city, even if you never set foot in them. These amenities are needed for the greater good of providing people of all tastes and backgrounds with things that make the city better and more hospitable. They attract jobs, families and businesses to help us grow. They attract the minds that make our hospitals and universities better. They improve our quality of life.

Ottawa is in a great place right now — we are growing right at a time when technological change and new ways of thinking are transforming the notions of how great communities can grow and prosper. However, the key to harnessing this growth is to understand that narrow self-interest will only hold us back. The idea that only things that I like should be built, and certainly only things I approve of should ever be within earshot of my residence, ignore what it means to be part of a larger community.

City building is about compromise and collaboration, not about getting your way. Certainly we need guidelines and bylaws to provide a clear understanding of the framework we are working within, but if we only allow ourselves to think within these narrow boxes, we are missing out on a world of opportunity. I may never set foot in the proposed new central library, but I understand the need for it. I don’t live in Orleans, but I understand why light rail may go there first. I live near the Carp landfill and Canadian Tire Centre, but I understand the need for these things and accept the byproducts of their presence near my home. My only request is to see them managed in a responsible way.

So long as we continue to ask “what’s in it for me?” we are missing out on the bigger picture. The benefits of better sports, cultural, transportation, education and business infrastructure are not exclusive to those who directly interact with them, but rather provide great opportunity and impact to the entire city. Yes we need consultations, absolutely we need community involvement, but it must be understood that having your say doesn’t mean getting your way. A debate you lose isn’t inherently an unfair fight. Ultimately, had the opponents of the project had a more long-term view, they could have provided greater benefit to the project by helping to improve and define it, rather than trying to pawn it off on another community. They chose to stay outside of the process, using the courts to try to turn the project into something they wanted, even though Lansdowne is clearly a space meant for all of Ottawa.

Ottawa has a tremendous opportunity to not only shake the reputation as a sleepy government town, but to become a powerhouse of innovation, creativity and culture. However, this can only happen if we understand that building a city means sometimes creating things we may not specifically value, and occasionally stepping outside our comfort zone. As residents of Ottawa get their chance to discover just how great the new Lansdowne is, it’s my hope that not only the residents of Ottawa, but its leaders who are soon to bring their vision to the people, embrace the opportunity to build things for everyone, not just for themselves.

Spencer Callaghan is an Ottawa-based marketing and communications strategist at 31digital.ca.

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